Vietnam and US enhance cooperation in infection prevention

Updated at Thursday, 13 Dec 2018, 17:35

The Hanoitimes - Vietnam became the 15th country in the world to receive the US government’s assistance in the fight against HV/AIDS through PEPFAR in 2004.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the US on December 12 signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation in infection prevention, antibiotic resistance and infection surveillance.

The signing ceremony. Photo: Phuong Tien

Accordingly, the signing of MoU aims to strengthen testing capacity to detect antibiotic-resistance pathogens through training and consultation, exchange isolated strains of bacteria, and share information on best practices and scientific advances in microbiological testing techniques.

Under the MoU, the two sides will exchange personnel and educational materials for training and reference purposes; organize meetings, conferences and workshops related to infection and drug resistance control, and work in expanding the national supervision system on antibiotic resistance and infection.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien highly valued close cooperation between the health sectors of the two countries, saying that the two sides have given priority to enhancing collaboration in preventive health, human resources training and drug resistance prevention.

In recent years, a number of important international cooperation agreements have been signed, including the International Cooperation on Science and Technology between the two governments and the MoU in prevention, human resources training and drug resistance which are two fields of great interest.

The minister hopes that the two sides will continue to effectively cooperate in preventing HIV/AIDS and drug resistance, preventive health, medical personnel training, and other cooperation activities in the framework of the MoU signed between the Vietnamese Ministry of Health and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in 2017, on the occasion of Secretary Thomas Price’s visit to Vietnam.

For his part, CDC Director Robert Redfield expressed his joy at the achievements made by Vietnam’s health sector, especially in preventing and controlling HIV/AIDS. Vietnam became the 15th country in the world to receive the US government’s assistance in the fight against HV/AIDS through PEPFAR in 2004.

Statistics showed that 2016 is the eighth consecutive year that the number of people dectected with HIV in Vietnam diminished, the number of AIDS patients and AIDS deaths annually decreased.

Up to now, a host of Vietnam – US health programs have been executed such as expanded ARV treatment, mother-to-child transmission of HIV prevention, drug abuse treatment with Methadone, HIV-infected children treatment.

He appreciated Vietnam’s policy on expanding the coverage of health insurance to those living with HIV/AIDS and was impressed by the health emergency center in Vietnam.

Robert Redfield wished to continue working with Vietnam's health sector in the field of antibiotic resistance, tuberculosis, drug-related management, epidemiology, among others.